Chinese 'Community Security' men prevent Telegraph report on village 'shrouded in the shadow of cancer'

Telegraph's Shanghai correspondent Tom Phillips and his photographer
are physically stopped from speaking to Chinese residents living in "a
village shrouded in the shadow of cancer".

4:46PM GMT 13 Nov 2012

On Monday, The Daily Telegraph attempted to visit Houwanggezhuang, a village described as "shrouded in the shadow of cancer" because of a chemical factory.

But with the 'Big 18th' Congress in full swing, its streets were heavily guarded by for-hire thugs in knee-length army coats and red caps that read: "Community Security".

One villager said the chemical factory – which produces polyacrylamides, a type of polymer used to make food packaging and treat sewage – was still "burning waste" in the middle of the night, releasing a "strong smell" into the atmosphere.

"We don't know if the chemical factory has caused the cancer but everyone knows that chemical factories should be located far away from villages," said another.

"It's useless you doing research here," they added. "It's the 'Big 18th'.

Then it turned violent. One thug tried to snatch a photographer's camera, grappling with his arm, knocking his glasses to the ground and stamping on them. Five men expelled the reporters from the village and onto the main road.